Wayne State women’s season ends short of an Elite Eight appearance

#7 Emporia State topped #11 Wayne State 76-69 Saturday evening in the NCAA Central Region Women’s Basketball semifinals played at Rhodes Field House in Searcy, Arkansas to end the season for the Wildcats, who finish with a 28-5 record. The first half was a defensive battle as both teams struggled shooting the ball as Emporia State led from start to finish. WSC started the game just 2 of 16 shooting and trailed 12-4 with 11:43 to play in the first half.

Wayne State was within six at 39-33 with 16:09 to play following a Jordan Spencer fast break lay-in. But the Hornets fought back with a 9-2 run and took a 48-35 lead at the 12:35 mark. The Hornets took their biggest lead of the game at 15 points, 58-43, with 8:49 remaining. WSC never gave up and kept battling and trimmed the 15 point lead to eight with 59 seconds to play. Jaylan Spencer sank two free throws with 15 seconds to play to make the final score 76-69.

Sophomore guard Addy Roller paced Wayne State in scoring with 18 points followed by junior forward Jordan Spencer with 16. Ashton Yossi and Millie Niggeling also reached double figures with 12 and 10 points respectively. Wayne State made 21 of 58 shots from the field for 36.2 percent. The ‘Cats were 5 of 22 from beyond the arc and 22 for 26 (84.6%) at the free throw line.

Seniors Ellen Hansen, Shantel Lehmann and Kara Powell played their final games in a Wildcat uniform.